商務(wù)英語函電語言特點及其在國際貿(mào)易中的應(yīng)用

1、外貿(mào)英語函電的語言特點及其在國際貿(mào)易中的應(yīng)用Linguistic feature of correspondence for foreign trade and its application in international trade摘要: 文章主要分為兩個部分論述，第一部分主要解釋外貿(mào)英語函電的意義并舉例說明它的其語言特點，突出其是一種具有極強(qiáng)特殊性及實用性的行業(yè)英語的性質(zhì)，接著闡述外貿(mào)英語函電的重要性，指出外貿(mào)英語函電已經(jīng)成為在對外貿(mào)易中不可或缺的重要組成部分；第二部分闡述外貿(mào)英函電在國際貿(mào)易中的應(yīng)用，指明它是成本最低、最常見、也最有效的通訊手段之一，主要從4個方面展開討論，分別是可以

2、搭建新的貿(mào)易關(guān)系、可以快速高效傳遞信息和數(shù)據(jù)、可以作為責(zé)任劃分的依據(jù)、可以維持貿(mào)易雙方良好的合作關(guān)系。最后還提倡應(yīng)選擇性地使用外貿(mào)英語函電。Abstract:This article is mainly divided into two part for discussion,the first part is talking about the meaning of foreign trade correspondence and its linguistic feature by examples in which a characteristic of professional Engl

3、ish with its extremely strong specialty and practicality will be stood out.This will be followed by a description of importance of foreign trade correspondence and point out it has become a indispensable component in international trade; The second part only puts emphasis on the foreign trade corres

4、pondences application in international trade.it is one of the most common ,the most effect and the most shortest cost means of communication.There are 4 points supporting the second part :building new trade relationship;sending or receiving information and documents in the fast and efficient way;bec

5、oming an evidence to split responsibility;maintaining a better relationship between two parties.in the last ,the author suggests selectively using foreign trade correspondence .關(guān)鍵詞：外貿(mào)英語函電；國際貿(mào)易；電子郵件 Key words:foreign trade correspondence;international trade;E-mail前言introduction隨著全球經(jīng)濟(jì)一體化和高新技術(shù)的迅猛發(fā)展，世界經(jīng)

6、濟(jì)體系的日益完善，中國對外貿(mào)易的活動也越來越頻繁?，F(xiàn)如今，各國進(jìn)出口企業(yè)除了通過見面或打電話，工作越來越多地通過外貿(mào)信函來完成。這就要求我們掌握外貿(mào)英語函電的特點和寫作技能，充分發(fā)揮他們在國際商務(wù)活動中的效用。另一方面，外貿(mào)英語函電特別是電子郵件以其價格低廉、使用方便、傳遞及時、功能多樣等優(yōu)勢使得國際貿(mào)易的開展更加多元化、高效化、自由化。不僅如此，正確地使用外貿(mào)英語函電還可以提升可信度、增進(jìn)貿(mào)易關(guān)系、影響他人，進(jìn)而為企業(yè)贏得更多的貿(mào)易機(jī)會，實現(xiàn)自身的價值。為了適應(yīng)新形勢的發(fā)展和用人單位對從業(yè)人員的要求，我們不僅要懂得外貿(mào)英語函電的語言特點，更重要的是要準(zhǔn)確熟練地加以運用。In the back

7、ground of economic globalization ，the rapid development of high technology and increasingly improvement of world economic system,Chinas foreign trade activities are more frequent than ever.Today, a trend of using correspondence is more popular in global importing or exporting enterprises other than

8、meeting or calling.Therefore we are requested to grasp the characteristic and writing skill of foreign trade correspondence to gain the full benefits of using them in the international trade.In the other hand,foreign trade correspondence,especially Email,have their advantages of low-cost,convenience

9、,timely transmitting and multifunction which made the establishment of foreign trade more multi plural efficient and free.Moreover,correctly using of correspondence can catch more trade opportunity and realize oneself value through its effects of upgrading credibility,promoting business relationship

10、 and influencing surroundings.It has to be clear the importance of accurately using correspondence as well as understanding its feature,that is exactly the request of employers under the new international business environment.外貿(mào)英語函電的語言特點Linguistic features of foreign trade correspondence1.1外貿(mào)函電過去指的是

11、國際貿(mào)易中往來的商業(yè)書信和電報、電傳。隨著科技的發(fā)展，特別是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)的長足發(fā)展，電報已經(jīng)成為歷史，電傳也已經(jīng)很難尋覓蹤跡。替而代之的是今天的傳真和電子郵件外貿(mào)函電。所以今天的的外貿(mào)英語函電是指在商務(wù)環(huán)境下不同文化背景的貿(mào)易雙方通過信函、傳真和電子郵件進(jìn)行書面交流的行為。而函電中所使用的英語是一種帶有濃重商務(wù)色彩的、應(yīng)用性很強(qiáng)的行業(yè)英語。Foreign business correspondence was referred to commercial letters,telegram or telex which extensively used in the past internatio

12、nal trade.With the development of technology,especially in the considerable field of internet ,telegram have become the old history,telex are also barely used and subsequently fax and emails took their position today.So nowadays foreign trade correspondence can be seen as a tool of written communica

13、tion by lettes,faxes and emails that trade parties with the different cultural background adopted in the business environment.Whats more,foreign correspondence English is the professional English of deep business colour and applicability.1.2外貿(mào)英語函電作為商務(wù)英語的使用功能變體之一，不僅繼承了商務(wù)英語所具有的一切特點，而且也因著其特殊的用途存在自身獨有的語

14、言特點。Foreign business correspondence not only copies all of characteristic of business English but also exists its own language feature according to its special uses because of being one of applicable and functional variant of business English.1.2.1外貿(mào)函電實際上就是商務(wù)英語的寫作。在撰寫商務(wù)信函的時候，都應(yīng)遵循“5C”原則，即意義明晰（clarity

15、）、用詞簡潔（conciseness）、禮貌周到（courtesy）、信息完整（completeness）、語言正確（correctness）。新編商務(wù)英語寫作2宏觀上來說任何一封出色的商務(wù)信函都會具備以上5個特點。舉例說明如下：Foreign trade correspondence actually can be deemed as foreign business English writing.It is called “5C” rulesclarity，conciseness，courtesy，completeness and correctness that writing a f

16、oreign business letter should comply.Say from macroscopic that every excellent foreign business letter will have these 5 characteristic.For examples: A B Render Give Finalize Finish Demonstrate Show 意義明晰（clarity）撰寫信函時，鑒于收信人的英文水平各不相同，為了避免造成收件人的誤解，我們就要使用常見且通俗易懂的詞語。上述B組的用詞比A組用詞更容易使讀者理解。寫信人使用清晰的表達(dá)和簡單易懂的

17、詞匯是使他人明白自己意思的明智做法。Claritywe need to use common and easy to understand words to avoid the recipients misunderstanding while creating a correspondence in view of each recipients English level are not identical.As the above-mentioned,group Bs words are more understandable than group As.So it is wise to

18、 use simple expression and oral words to be well understood by others. A B At this time Now Come to a decision Decide For the purpose For 用詞簡潔（conciseness）以上示例中B組的表達(dá)顯然比A組的表達(dá)簡短。通過這種簡潔的交流方式可以直接減少寫信人和收信人的時間和成本，所以在外貿(mào)函電中應(yīng)盡量避免使用復(fù)雜難懂的商業(yè)術(shù)語。ConscisenessIt is not hard to find group Bs expression are apparentl

19、y more simple and shorter than group As.Adopting concise communication form could directly save time and cost of senders and receivers, Using complicated commercial terms will never become the first choice when writing a foreign trade correspondence. A B We can not deliver. I am afraid we can not de

20、liver.You ought to have accepted. It seems to us that you ought to . 禮貌周到（courtesy）外貿(mào)英語函電經(jīng)常會有類似于B組的句式表達(dá).在國際貿(mào)易中買賣雙方難免會有產(chǎn)生分歧或者無法滿足對方要求的情況，也或者是向?qū)Ψ教岢瞿撤N意見，在這種情況下，如果使用A組句式會讓對方感到被命令或者被強(qiáng)迫，而B組的句式相對婉轉(zhuǎn)和禮貌，更能表達(dá)發(fā)件人的愿望，誠意或者是歉意。CourtesyIt always had been emerging of sentence expression like group B in foreign trad

21、e correspondence.Disagreement will occasionally come out between traders,or one party is unable to meet the requirement of the other party,or one will make suggestions to the other one which those scenes are not rare to see in the international trade. If,under these circumstances,using group Bs sent

22、ence pattern,it will make receivers feel being ordered or compelled.On the contrary,using mild and indirect sentence like group B can to a large extent convey senders hope,sincere or apology. 信息完整（completeness）主要體現(xiàn)在答復(fù)的內(nèi)容上.在編輯函電時應(yīng)盡可能一一回答發(fā)件人的所有問題及針對貿(mào)易中可能出現(xiàn)的各種狀況給出提示等。 Completenessthis characteristic wi

23、ll be reflected in the containing of response.It has to,if possible, include every answer questioned by senders and give instructions about predictable situations or else while creating a foreign trade correspondence. A B This product is absolutely This product is the best one The best on the market

24、 we can offer 語言正確（correctness）外貿(mào)函電中語言正確不僅是指語法結(jié)構(gòu)的正確，拼寫及書寫內(nèi)容的正確,同時還應(yīng)注意語言使用的是否得當(dāng)，上述示例中B組的語句準(zhǔn)確表達(dá)了賣方提供了最優(yōu)質(zhì)的產(chǎn)品給買方，而A組的表達(dá)稍顯浮夸。B組的句子增加了賣方的可信度。 CorrectnessLinguistically correct in foreign trade correspondence not only refers to use grammar and structure rightly,but also optimum language using should be tak

25、en into considerable account. Compared with group As sentence with too much exaggeration,group Bs sentence precisely tell the seller have offered their goods with the most highest quality to their buyer.Obviously group B helped to add credibility of seller.1.2.2外貿(mào)英語函電的語言特點除了宏觀上體現(xiàn)在”5C”原則之外，微觀上還可劃分為以下

26、幾點。Linguistic feature of foreign trade correspondence also can be explained on microscopic level beyond the “5C rules” on macroscopic aspect.A、稱呼語、結(jié)束語及句法表達(dá)的固定。Dear Mr Homes,How are you doing.Dear Miss Watson,Wish you a nice day.當(dāng)我們看到以這種形式開頭的稱呼語時，大多數(shù)人都會不自覺地認(rèn)為這是一封信函。無疑我們的感覺是正確的。為什么人們會有這種感覺呢？原因是我們都知道這是

27、英文信函的習(xí)慣表達(dá)。亦如，結(jié)束語中yours respectfully /yours sincerely/Kind Regards等，還有正文中的固定表達(dá)，如the attached pls find .,We look forward to receiving your reply soon,This is to confirm your E-mail dated.國際商務(wù)函電像這種表達(dá)在外貿(mào)英文函電中是屢見不鮮的，都是向?qū)Ψ奖硎咀鹬氐牧?xí)慣用法。鑒于外貿(mào)函電是公文性質(zhì)的信函，一方面慣用句式是在長久的國際貿(mào)易交流中衍生出來的，另一方面使用慣用句式有利于讀者更準(zhǔn)確的理解句意。相反，在日常會話中一

28、般是不會使用到這些表達(dá)法的。Inertia of salutation,ending and sentence. “Dear Mr Homes,How are you doing.Dear Miss Watson,Wish you a nice day”Most of people will unconsciously feel what they are seeing is a letter when these sentences reflect in their eyes,and it is undoubtedly right.But why do people feel this wa

29、y?The answer is we all know those are “nail household” in correspondence such as “yours respectfully /yours sincerely/Kind Regards” in the ends and constant sentences as “the attached pls find .,We look forward to receiving your reply soon,This is to confirm your E-mail dated.國際商務(wù)函電” in the body.The

30、 above-mentioned fixed usages are vastly fooding in foreign trade correspondence and more important is by inertial usage of salutation,ending and sentence can fully express respect.Given that foreign trade correspondence is official letter,so the inertial usage have been formed in the long history o

31、f international businesscommunication,on the other hand,by using fixed sentence pattern can facilitate correctly understanding.However,we generally will not use these expression in daily conversation.B、外貿(mào)英文函電高頻詞匯的出現(xiàn)。函電的內(nèi)容決定詞匯出現(xiàn)頻率的高低。外貿(mào)英文函電在具有極強(qiáng)專業(yè)性質(zhì)的同時也揭露了自身語言使用的局限性。外貿(mào)函電是在商務(wù)背景下與客戶溝通的，函電內(nèi)容總是離不開詢價，報盤，訂

32、貨，簽約，包裝，裝運，保險等話題，因此與這些話題有關(guān)的詞匯便經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在往來的函電中，并會一直成為雙方交流的話題。而這也正是外貿(mào)英文函電與日常書信的不同之處。Emergence of high-frequent words in foreign trade correspondenceThe contents of correspondence decide the using frequency of vocabulary.It has to point out that foreign trade correspondence got its linguistic constrain of

33、language use as well as have strong nature of profession.Foreign trade correspondence usually communicates with customers under the background of business,as a result,correspondence content is always inseparable from the topic of inquiry,quotation,ordering,contract,pack,shipping,insurance, etc.There

34、fore words related to these topics usually will be usually used in the letters and be the topic between traderscommunication.That is exactly the difference from daily letters.C、縮寫詞的大量使用。高效、快捷、便利已經(jīng)成為現(xiàn)代人追求的生活方式，在競爭激烈的商業(yè)場上表現(xiàn)更為明顯。隨著時代的變遷，國際貿(mào)易呈現(xiàn)出一片繁榮的景象。商業(yè)英語的語言也不停地隨之消失與更新。就好像電子郵件中大量涌現(xiàn)的縮寫詞已經(jīng)成為現(xiàn)代外貿(mào)英語的代表之一。

35、縮寫詞一般是由幾個大寫字母組成，也有大寫字母與標(biāo)點符號共同組成的情況。例如： A B ASAP as soon as possible PI proforma invoice O/C order confirmation C.C carbon copy P.S. postscript這些縮寫詞經(jīng)常會出現(xiàn)在往來的電子郵件中，比起函電內(nèi)容，似乎縮寫詞更能吸引收件人的眼球?？s寫詞的新穎與充滿個性的形式不但減少撰寫函電的時間，還能贏得讀者的信任感，同時，也給電子郵件的內(nèi)容增添了幾分活力，也容易使收件人對你郵件中所發(fā)出的信息印象深刻。隨著社會的進(jìn)步與發(fā)展，人類對個性化的追求，相信更多的縮寫詞會相繼出現(xiàn)。

36、作為一名專業(yè)的外貿(mào)從業(yè)人員，如果不懂縮寫詞的使用，又怎么跟得上時代的步伐呢？Plenty use of abbreviationsEfficient,fast,convenient have become a new life style pursued by modern people which have been surely and totally agreed in the fiercely competitive field of business.With these years past,international trade have presented a booming

37、signs.As a consequence of that,business English language formed a constantly circle of disappearance and update just as the abbreviations largely poured into Emails have become one of modern foreign business English representatives.Abbreviations are generally composed of several capital letters or s

38、ometimes composed of capitals and punctuation.Such as below: A B ASAP as soon as possible PI proforma invoice O/C order confirmation C.C carbon copy P.S. postscriptThese abbreviations are often used in Emails and it seems like the receivers eyes are very attracted by abbreviations comparing with the

39、 content.Abbreviation with its novelty and absolute personality not only can save time of making correspondence but also can gain more trust from receivers.Meanwhile,it adds Email some vitality and help leaveing a deep impression of information to others.With societys progress and development and in

40、 terms of human pursue to personality,more abbreviation will consequently come out.So here a question is how we can keep our pace with the Age as a foreign business professionals if we dont know the usage of abbreviation.盡管我們不具備100%出色的表達(dá)能力，但是通過對外貿(mào)英語函電特點的了解并結(jié)合實際情況是可以彌補(bǔ)表達(dá)能力上的不足。如今，撰寫外貿(mào)函電是一種最常見的商務(wù)活動，它可

41、以幫助我們達(dá)到商業(yè)目的，也可以讓我們知道函電作為交流工具的重要性。只有認(rèn)真研究它的語言特點才能最大化的發(fā)揮它的作用。Even though we dont have 100 percent excellent ability of expression,it can be made up by understanding the feature of foreign trade correspondence and connecting with the practical situation.Nowadays,write the foreign trade correspondence is

42、 the most common business activity,it can help us to reach business goals and also can let us know the importance of using correspondence as a tool of communication.Only get to know the correspondences language nature can we maximize its effect.二、外貿(mào)英文函電在國際貿(mào)易中的應(yīng)用Foreign trade correspondences applicat

43、ion in the international trade 2.1國際貿(mào)易不同于我國內(nèi)部企業(yè)之間的合作，企業(yè)之間不可能總是面對面的進(jìn)行交流，畢竟成本和時間是決定經(jīng)濟(jì)利潤的最關(guān)鍵因素之一。而傳統(tǒng)貿(mào)易通訊方式的繁瑣，必然會阻礙各國之間貿(mào)易的發(fā)展及貿(mào)易全球化進(jìn)程的速度。外貿(mào)英語函電的優(yōu)勢在于它克服了時間和空間的限制，簡化了貿(mào)易活動中的繁雜程序，節(jié)約了交易成本費用，提高了交易的速度，保障了交易的安全進(jìn)行，有效的避免了數(shù)據(jù)的丟失和毀壞?，F(xiàn)代外貿(mào)英語函電的迅速發(fā)展，成為企業(yè)進(jìn)入國際市場的有效手段，在節(jié)約貿(mào)易雙方交易成本的同時，還可以達(dá)到宣傳企業(yè)的目的。外貿(mào)英文函電也正是因著其自身的種種優(yōu)勢受到了國際社會

44、的普遍認(rèn)可。International trade is different from the cooperation between domestic enterprises.Because it is not possible to communicate face to face for saving cost and time which is one of the most crucial factors of controlling economic profit between international traders。Furthermore,if using traditio

45、nal means of communication, it will inevitably block the commercial development between countries and the progress of economic globalization because of its complicated procedure.The advantages of foreign trade correspondence are eliminating the limit of time and space,simplifying the complex procedu

46、res in the international trade,saving cost,boosting the speed of transaction,ensuring the security of trading,avoiding the data loss and damage,etc. In view of the rapidly development of foreign trade correspondence, it has been used as an effective tool of entering into international market.Apart f

47、rom saving traderscost,it can achieving the aim of publicizing cooperates as well.Foreign trade correspondence was extensively recognised by international community because of its own advantages.A可以搭建新的貿(mào)易關(guān)系。Setting up new trade relations隨著互聯(lián)網(wǎng)等通信技術(shù)的快速發(fā)展，外貿(mào)函電已成為買賣雙方建立對外貿(mào)易關(guān)系和外貿(mào)往來的重要手段。國內(nèi)企業(yè)與國外客戶建立貿(mào)易關(guān)系一般

48、都是通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)搜索；請國外銀行介紹客戶；請國內(nèi)貿(mào)易促進(jìn)機(jī)構(gòu)或商會介紹關(guān)系如貿(mào)促會；通過國內(nèi)外展會交易建立關(guān)系；請我駐外使館商務(wù)處或外國駐華使館介紹對象；利用國內(nèi)外專業(yè)咨詢公司介紹客戶（外貿(mào)英語函電賈和平，黃梨，趙曙亞，經(jīng)濟(jì)科學(xué)出版社24頁）等渠道外貿(mào)英語函電，而中介機(jī)構(gòu)不會無償永久地為買賣雙方搭建貿(mào)易關(guān)系，因此在得知對方大概情況后，貿(mào)易方為了表達(dá)貿(mào)易意圖就要尋找一個合適的方式與對方聯(lián)系。函電以快捷，成本低的特點成為了貿(mào)易方的首選?？梢哉f一封充滿尊敬和謙虛及布局精良的外貿(mào)函電比電話更能夠引起對方的注意。而且，函電是將要表達(dá)的內(nèi)容撰寫完整之后再發(fā)送給對方，所以一般不會出現(xiàn)遺漏要呈現(xiàn)的信息的情況，既不

49、會給收件人造成不便，也不會使發(fā)函人遭到被當(dāng)場拒絕的尷尬。另外函電卻可以做到24小時的全天候不間斷的服務(wù)，對于任何客戶在任何地方、任何時間的回復(fù)及問題都可以及時給出答復(fù)，更有利于推進(jìn)雙方貿(mào)易關(guān)系的建立。With the rapid development of telecommunication technology especially internet tech,Foreign trade correspondence have become the important means of building relations and handling deals between intern

50、ational traders.Domestic companies will usually find foreign customers by sources such as web searching system,asking help from foreign banks,asking assistance from domestic trade promotion agencies or Chamber of commerce such as CCPIT,attending exhibitions held by home or foreign countries,asking h

51、elp from our embassies commercial service or foreign embassies,paying domestic or foreign professional consulting companies,etc.However,these intermediary agencies will not offer their services permanently without fees.So traders,who want to build business connection with foreign companies,will have

52、 to find appropriate contacts after getting the information of foreign companies.Most of tradersfirst choice will be correspondence because it is fast and economic.Maybe we can say a correspondence with full respect or humility and well-constructed layout could be more probable to attract the attent

53、ion of the others.At the same time,a correspondence is usually fully prepared and sent to receivers,so there is generally no situations of omitting information to be presented or no inconvenience to receivers or no embarrassing for being quickly rejected either.In addition,Correspondence could provi

54、de live information 24 hours a day,which is possible to timely reply to customers anywhere or any time, for promoting new trade relationsestablishment.B可以快速高效傳遞信息和數(shù)據(jù)。Fast and efficiently transmit information and data國內(nèi)貿(mào)易與國際貿(mào)易的主要區(qū)別之一便是單據(jù)的使用。發(fā)出的每一票貨都必須有正確的單據(jù)，如合同、商業(yè)發(fā)票、裝箱單、提單、保險單、產(chǎn)地證等。如果單據(jù)不正確，進(jìn)口商將在提貨的時候

55、遇到困難，就算是微小的差距也可能導(dǎo)致銀行拒絕付款，根據(jù)商品性質(zhì)及各國具體規(guī)定不同，不同的交易需要不同的單據(jù)。為了不影響貿(mào)易伙伴之間今后的貿(mào)易關(guān)系，單據(jù)的及時傳遞尤為重要。國際商務(wù)英語184與郵遞、電報等傳遞方式相比，電子郵件不僅破除了時空的壁壘，又節(jié)約了通訊成本，最重要的是只需要短短幾分鐘就可將數(shù)據(jù)傳給對方。即使是傳遞信息有誤，也可以做到及時的糾正，將損失減到最低?，F(xiàn)如今，電子郵件在國際貿(mào)易雙方之間、跨國公司與子公司之間、政府機(jī)構(gòu)與公司之間、企業(yè)員工之間已經(jīng)成了交換信息數(shù)據(jù)的最普遍的、具有最高效能的媒介。21世紀(jì)人類已經(jīng)進(jìn)入了大數(shù)據(jù)時代，全球經(jīng)濟(jì)一體化的加快使得國際貿(mào)易的競爭愈演愈烈，對市場信

56、息實時的掌控握成了企業(yè)發(fā)展的致命因素。如果說外貿(mào)函電是因為迎合了局勢的發(fā)展才被世界所認(rèn)可，反之，它也成了全球經(jīng)濟(jì)快速發(fā)展的推動力。One of the main distinction between domestic trade and international trade is the use of documents.Each shipment dispatched should be equipped with correct documents such as contract,commercial invoice,packing list,bill of lading,insurance policy,certificate of origin,etc.If without right documents,importers may have difficulties in taking delivery of the goods,even slightly difference could cause bank to refuse to pay.Also,due to the differences existed in p